one winter
by spidersrorg
Summary: Following Kaneki's group five days after the Aogiri break. Tsukikane.
1. twentieth

Tsukiyama smelled him before he saw him.

He wondered what it could be that was making Kaneki smell so strongly. Perhaps he hadn't remembered Kaneki's scent correctly, but that couldn't be it, the smell was ingrained into his head and even the memory of it would make him dizzy. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, they say, it had been a while since he had smelled the real Kaneki- not just blood from his handkerchief.

Once he caught sight of Kaneki, it was very obvious as to why the scent had been so strong. He was filthy, covered in crusted blood and sweat and his own filth. It was disgusting. Tsukiyama's stomach would have turned had it been anyone else, but it instead growled and drool pooled in his mouth. He found himself wanting to clean it off his skin himself. Kaneki smelled delectable.

And the scent he was giving off...usually, Kaneki had the slightest trace of fear coming off of him. That wasn't there. No, there was a dominance coming from him- strange, not at all Kaneki.

This was a new Kaneki. A Phoenix.

If only Tsukiyama had been able to smell him roast as he rose from the ashes.

That confidence was there in both his smell and the way he stood. His presence was almost… commanding. He was picturesque, standing in that crescent of trees. His skin was almost as pale as his strangely white hair, and the moonlight seemed to know that it was him that should be focused on. The way it reflected off of him, he practically glowed. Even with his coat of filth he was beautiful.

Tsukiyama realized he was waxing romantic. It would sometimes happen with a particularly appetizing meal.

Kaneki was just as appealing with the spice of dominance as he was with the sweet scent of fear.

Even more so, really.

Kaneki took his time speaking to the others in their entourage, not sparing him so much as a glance. He wanted Kaneki to notice him, but he would be patient. His conversation with the brutish Touka felt as if it could drag on forever. _Pazienza_.

Tsukiyama bided his time and simply admired Kaneki.

But his patience was all lost when some meathead he had never met began speaking to _his_ Kaneki. And _so familiarly_. What was he getting at? Offering to be his shield. His blood boiled. He then realized it was a perfect opportunity to win Kaneki back over.

He clapped his hands and knelt and offered to be his sword, because who needs a shield? Whoever that man was, Banjoi, he couldn't get any closer to Kaneki. Tsukiyama wouldn't let him.

"Tsukiyama-san, so you were alive after all."

That stung. Kaneki hadn't noticed him the whole time he had been there?

But then, Kaneki accepted. He asked for his help. And that was more than what Tsukiyama could ask for.

He wanted to take his hand and kiss it in a show of subservience, but Kaneki leaned into his ear before he had a chance.

"But if you do anything unnecessary, I'll kill you. So please treat me well."

The whisper shook him. Rattled him to his core, took his breath away. His stomach growled.

Eating Kaneki would be so much more difficult now, so much more of a chase. A worthy prey.

Kaneki stepped away to continue talking to the others, leaving Tsukiyama on his knees on the ground. He wasn't sure he could move from that spot, really, he was shaking a little. It was too much, Kaneki was too much. Too much, and everything he wanted.

This new Kaneki was the only thing he wanted and he would do anything to have him.

The others all cleared away, leaving him behind with Kaneki and the other four he had never met.

Disgraceful, that they would just _leave_ Kaneki. But that was all the better for him, that would show just how much _dévouement_ he had for the half ghoul.

Kaneki stood on his own for a while, looking at the sky. He said nothing, he simply stood there and didn't realize how beautiful and appetizing he looked. The wind was the only thing breaking the silence. A cloud shifted over the moon and shielded the light glowing into him and he finally turned around to face his followers. A perfect moment, the perfect mood set, _perfetto, perfetto, perfetto_.

Tsukiyama eagerly awaited what he had to say, for cracked lips to open and the slight rasp in his voice to issue him an order-

But no, that damned Banjoi had to be the one to break the silence. He even looked like someone who had no tact, couldn't read the air. "So, uh, where should we go now? I know some places in this ward..."

Kaneki shook his head. "We probably won't be followed, with all that's going on, but we should leave here."

He turned to Tsukiyama. "I suppose you can show if you can be of use, now. Find us a place to stay."

Tsukiyama finally stood from his crouch on the ground to give Kaneki a deep bow. "Of course, Kaneki-kun, anything for you."

"Don't say things like that, Tsukiyama-san."

"As you wish," he replied, exaggerating the hurt in his voice. Kaneki showed no reaction to that. There was an awkward pause. "...once we can find a road, I'll have a car come for us."

Kaneki nodded and started walking off, the other four scrambling after him like a pack of lost puppies. Tsukiyama followed as well, but he had _some_ dignity, he liked to believe. He had purpose, while this lot was just blindly following him.

He pulled out his phone and made some connections- found a residence none of his family was using at the moment, one that would accommodate six people. His usual flat wouldn't do. It was relatively easy, most of his family was away on vacation due to the time of year. This would have to be a temporary location, but he'd find a more permanent location when things were more settled.

They found the road easily, a car was on its way. The three gasmasked fellows went on and talked amongst themselves, the tactless fool hovering uncomfortably. Kaneki stood on his own, but with dignity. Tsukiyama went to join him.

"The car is on its way, Kaneki-kun."

"I knew that, Tsukiyama-san, you didn't need to tell me."

"A-ah, of course," Tsukiyama shifted uncomfortably. Kaneki was being so forceful, so sure in his words. He'd been a shy, stuttering mess before he'd disappeared. Whatever could have happened?

His appearance had obviously changed, the white hair was a sure sign of that. He was paler, too, but that may have just been the contrast with the dried blood covering him. And his eyes, the dark circles under them were striking on that pale skin-

"Kaneki-kun, you look exhausted," Tsukiyama expressed.

Kaneki let out a snort, a half-laugh. What sort of reaction was that? How rude, how unusual of him.

"You'll find the beds in this house to be of high quality, very soft. You'll sleep well on them," Tsukiyama said, trying to redeem the situation. "Are you hungry?"

"No, I...I ate," Kaneki said as if it was some horrible admission. This new Kaneki wasn't going to be guilty about eating, too, was he? Tsukiyama made a note to ensure that he wouldn't, through whatever manipulation it would take.

"I see, you still have blood on your mouth. Allow me." Tsukiyama pulled out the embroidered handkerchief in his suit pocket and licked the tip of it to dampen it- the blood on Kaneki's mouth was crusted, after all. He cupped Kaneki's chin and, to his surprise, Kaneki leaned into his hand and looked up at him to allow him to go through with the motion. He dabbed away the blood at the corners of his mouth gently and tucked it back into his pocket to wash later.

The hand he had on Kaneki's chin he let drop to Kaneki's hip, to wrap around in a half-embrace.

"There you are, Kaneki-kun."

If Kaneki would allow it, getting this close to him after all that had happened-

Kaneki leaned his forehead against Tsukiyama's shoulder and sighed.

That was very unexpected. But very welcome. Kaneki's hands were still resting at his sides, but he couldn't expect him to reciprocate the half-hug. It was a surprise that he was even allowing the contact, when he'd seemed so forceful and dominant before.

Tsukiyama trailed his other arm to wrap around Kaneki's shoulders, to thread fingers into white locks at the back of Kaneki's neck. He leaned his face forward, let his eyes fall shut, and took a whiff of Kaneki's hair. That close, the smell was almost overwhelming.

When he opened his eyes he saw the muscular fellow staring at him. He didn't trust that Banjoi- he doubted he was after Kaneki, but he would certainly get in the way of his dinner. Kaneki was his priority, and he didn't like these others tailing along. He could protect Kaneki on his own if it was protection he needed, he wouldn't allow anyone to harm his most precious delicacy. He remembered that Banjoi had mentioned that Kaneki had saved _him_, and if he needed to be rescued how was he going to protect Kaneki?

Tsukiyama smirked at him and pulled Kaneki closer and against his body, and Banjou quickly looked away and scurried over to the gas mask club meeting. Good, he should stay out of his way.

Kaneki hadn't said anything, but he also hadn't objected to being pulled closer, his face was still buried into Tsukiyama's shoulder. Tsukiyama wondered how much further Kaneki would let him push, how much further was considered "unnecessary". He doubted Kaneki was serious about killing him, anyway. His fingers threaded further into his hair and curled into the back of his head and he leaned down to ghost his lips across Kaneki's ear-

He heard a popping of a knuckle and Kaneki's elbow connected with his ribs. A sound escaped his lips, what was probably a shriek, and he stumbled back and off of Kaneki.

Perhaps he was serious about the "killing him" thing. He could feel at least one of his ribs had broken from that. He was fierce- Tsukiyama would have to tiptoe around him, he was stronger and had more will than he had before. Whatever had overcome Kaneki? The gentle, _dolce_ Kaneki that he had known?

This new Kaneki, this new Kaneki. This new Kaneki was _fantastique_ and he was glad of their meeting.

"Hmm," Tsukiyama made out, his voice much higher pitched than it should have been, "Kaneki-kun," he searched for something to say, to redeem the moment, he'd been so close and now he was going to lost that. Kaneki was standing there, looking at him expectantly- he had started talking to him, after all. His feet were bare, Tsukiyama noticed, and besides his "coat" of filth he wore nothing but shorts and a short-sleeved shirt- it was the middle of December. The boy must be freezing. Though, he showed no sign of shivering or of being uncomfortable in any way.

"Kaneki-kun, are you cold? Allow me," he unbuttoned his suit blazer and shrugged it off. He held it up for Kaneki to help him into it, gentlemanly. He'd win Kaneki back over this time, he knew it. This was a new Kaneki, after all. He didn't expect Kaneki to actually accept the jacket, but he did, slipping his arms into it. Tsukiyama moved to button the jacket for him, and Kaneki nodded in approval.

"Thank you, Tsukiyama-san," he straightened out the jacket.

Tsukiyama moved to respond, but was cut off by the ringing of his phone.

It was the driver, the car was near. It arrived shortly, they piled in. The musclehead and his trio were awed by his "fancy" car- he hadn't even been sent one of his nice ones. He rolled his eyes at that. He believed Kaneki had fallen asleep, he was incredibly quiet even though the others kept up with their incessant chatter.

He checked his phone again and saw a notification on his calendar, one he had put in the first time he was pursuing Kaneki, when he'd sniffed out all of the information on the boy he could.

"Happy birthday," he whispered to Kaneki.

"Is that today?" he heard from Kaneki, quiet. "Thank you."

He was almost certain Kaneki had been asleep, but apparently he hadn't. Kaneki shifted in his seat and leaned against Tsukiyama, and did fall asleep that time. Letting his guard down, how _dolce_.

The group arrived to the house, and Tsukiyama unceremoniously told the other four to "sleep wherever" before guiding Kaneki to the master bedroom.

"There's a bathroom just around the corner, Kaneki-kun, you'll find a tub as well as a shower there," he explained.

Kaneki nodded. "Thank you, Tsukiyama-san."

And then the door was slammed in his face.

Ah.

Tsukiyama was going to try to share the room with him, but. That evidently wasn't going to happen.

He stood there for a moment, in shock. It probably shouldn't have been shocking.

Oh, the others had taken the other bedrooms-

He'd have to sleep on the couch, how uncivilised.

Maybe Kaneki would come around.


	2. twenty-first

Tsukiyama was glad that Kaneki had decided that he shouldn't share the room with him.

He hadn't been able to sleep at all, and it hadn't been due to sleeping on the couch. The couch was actually quite comfortable. No, he hadn't been able to sleep because of how loud Kaneki was in the middle of the night.

Laughter kept coming from his room, loud and mirthless in its tone, and then it would edge away and into screaming and then back into laughter. He thought he heard some furniture thrown at some point. He was honestly a little frightened to go see what was going on in there, so he left him on his own. He wondered how the other four managed to sleep through it.

Kaneki had quieted down once the sun came up, but by that point Tsukiyama knew he wasn't going to get any sleep himself. He went out and snagged them breakfast. He would usually take care in finding his food but he just took what he could find that early in the morning.

He pulled some sausages- enough for he and Kaneki, the others could have the scraps- and set them to roast. He poured some blood into a pan to fry; blood had a coagulant property similar to that of eggs, and scrambled quite well. In order to impress Kaneki, he pulled out some of the finer china and arranged the food on the plate artfully.

The others stumbled out of their bedrooms, groggy and rubbing their eyes, just as he had poured coffee for Kaneki and himself. The gas mask trio was unmasked, which was odd to see, but Tsukiyama didn't give that a second thought. Banjoi, however, opened his tactless mouth and bellowed about how it "smelled good in here" and Tsukiyama tried to resist rolling his eyes. He gestured to the corpse on the counter, gave them a disinterested "_bon appétit_", and left with the cooked breakfasts on a tray.

He gave Kaneki's door a sharp two knocks and opened the door, balancing the tray in one hand. The state of the room- he let out a groan. That mess would be something to explain to the maids. The room would need to be refurnished, almost everything was either tipped over or in some way broken...and a part of the wall would need to be replastered, lovely. The scores down the wall from Kaneki's kagune were very evident; Tsukiyama was amazed that he hadn't torn down the whole house.

The state of the room was the first thing that Tsukiyama noticed, but then his eyes drifted to Kaneki and he muttered a "_mon dieu_". Kaneki hadn't fallen asleep after all, he was sitting on the edge of the bed and staring at an unharmed wall- with some fresher blood on him than he had the night before- his own, judging from the delicious smell wafting off of him. And he...was still covered in the old, crusted blood. Still in the clothes he had been wearing, as well- and Tsukiyama's jacket, too large for him. Kaneki's scent would have rubbed off onto the blazer as well, if he hadn't showered; Tsukiyama would have to remember not to wash it. That part of the sight was simply _dolce_, though the rest worried him- what if that were to spoil his flavor?

His head slowly turned and Kaneki seemed to register Tsukiyama standing there. "Ah, sorry about-"

"_Non, non_, Kaneki-kun, things can be replaced," Tsukiyama responded, trying not to sound bitter in his tone. It was true, but it was still a bit startling to see the room dismantled in such a way. "I've brought you breakfast."

Kaneki nodded, and Tsukiyama was surprised that he'd agreed. Kaneki was usually...touchy about food, with those little sugar cubes of his. Tsukiyama took that as an invitation to walk to the bed where Kaneki was sitting, carefully stepping over some trashed furniture. The bed wasn't the ideal place to eat, but the state of the other furniture wasn't optimal for fine dining either.

Kaneki shifted over to allow him to set down the tray and to sit next to him, accepting the plate and coffee almost eagerly. He wasn't questioning where the food had come from, which was an interesting tidbit that Tsukiyama tucked away for later pondering. Tsukiyama watched as Kaneki wrapped his hands around the fine silverware and moved to cut into the meat on the plate- before setting them back down on the plate, food untouched.

"Eating with silverware just," Kaneki shook his head sadly, "it just feels wrong."

Tsk. And Tsukiyama had thought he was making progress in refining Kaneki's taste, little as it had been. Kaneki had to eat the finest foods to ensure the taste of his meat would be at its peak.

"If that's the problem, then please," Tsukiyama took the silverware from Kaneki's plate and deftly cut a piece from the sausage, "allow me."

Kaneki made no move to stop him, so he took that as leave to continue. He set down the knife and cupped Kaneki's cheek. "'Aah', Kaneki-kun."

Kaneki gave him a look of disbelief, almost disgusted. It was...quite cute, really. His eyebrow twitched, a trace of anger perhaps? Kaneki's mouth moved, but seemed unsure of how to react to that. He rolled his eyes.

"Aah."

Resigning to his fate, how sweet.

Tsukiyama lifted the fork and placed it between Kaneki's lips, face contorting into a smile when Kaneki's mouth closed around it. He pulled the fork back and Kaneki darted his eyes away, but as he chewed the piece his eyes fluttered shut. Tsukiyama admired the way Kaneki's jaw moved under his hand and how his throat bobbed as he swallowed. Kaneki let out a sigh through his nose. Tsukiyama liked this; he was preparing his food and Kaneki didn't so much as notice.

"How is it, _mon chou_?"

Kaneki reached for his coffee and took a sip of it. "It tastes good. But...eating shouldn't be pleasurable, not when it's hurting people."

Tsukiyama tutted at him and cut another piece of sausage, preparing to give him a few words of lecture about the fineties of food, but Kaneki's hand gripped his wrist. His fingers dug in a little more forceful than they needed to, surely they had left bruises. Kaneki had become so rough since he had disappeared.

"No, this is ridiculous," Kaneki said, once again shaking his head.

Kaneki released his wrist and proceeded to pick up the food with his _filthy, filthy_ hands and shove it all into his mouth- even the blood scramble. _Brut. Disgustoso. Révoltant._ He didn't seem to savor it for a second as he wolfed it all down, though the expression in his eyes did soften. His hand wrapped around the mug of coffee and he chugged that down, not at all appreciating how fine of a blend it was.

"Thank you for the food."

Tsukiyama tried to hide his horror behind a smile and nodded, "_Mon plaisir_." Such behavior wasn't what he would have expected from Kaneki. But seeing such behavior was enticing, a show of how he'd changed.

Kaneki just stared at him for a moment, and then returned to looking at the wall he'd been staring at earlier.

That wouldn't do, Kaneki ignoring him.

"Kaneki-kun, was the shower not to your satisfaction?" Tsukiyama asked. He very obviously hadn't bathed, and Tsukiyama wasn't going to complain about the smell, but the thought of how filthy he was made his skin crawl a little. It made him want to go take a shower himself, really.

"Oh, I...I was too tired last night," he explained, "I guess I'll do that now."

Tsukiyama clapped his hands together once. "A fine plan. I'll bring you some fresh clothes, then."

"There's no need to get so worked up about that." Kaneki stood from the bed and took a couple of steps toward the bathroom before stopping and standing there a moment, his back to Tsukiyama.

"I...Tsukiyama-san, would you help me."

_DOLCE_.

_Calmato_, certainly Kaneki couldn't be asking… "Help you shower, Kaneki-kun?"

He heard that pop from Kaneki's knuckle. He'd been doing that quite a bit since the night before…

"Don't be gross. Just...just help me wash my hands, if you would. I don't want to look at them."

Tsukiyama stood from the bed, his own breakfast untouched. Why eat that fast food when the finest of cuisine was there with him? He took the steps over to Kaneki and wrapped an arm around his waist to guide him into the bathroom.

"Of course."

Tsukiyama turned on the sink and took Kaneki's hand in his, but Kaneki froze up when he looked into the mirror. He sighed and shook his head, shifting his gaze to make eye contact with Tsukiyama in the mirror.

"I'd rather have anyone but you, don't get me wrong," he started, the look in his eyes fierce but the expression underlying unreadable, "But Banjou and the others, I, I need them and they're only here because they think I'm strong. So...They can't see me like this." He swallowed. "You're only here because you want to eat me, though. I can count on you not to leave, because it isn't happening," at that he let out a small laugh. "I know I'm stronger than you now."

Tsukiyama took a sharp breath.

That was.

Oh.

That was delicious.

Tsukiyama let out a hum in response, partly because he didn't know what to say and partly because he didn't trust himself not to squeak or scream some rapturous expression because right now Kaneki was simply _devin_.

Tsukiyama's eyes dropped to Kaneki's hand, still in his. He couldn't bear to look Kaneki in the eye any longer, he felt as though his knees could buckle and he had the strangest urge to let Kaneki step all over him.

The task at hand, though.

He turned Kaneki's hand over in his and rubbed his thumb into his palm. Kaneki's shoulders slackened. Tsukiyama hadn't noticed how tense he'd been, but now that he had….that couldn't be good for Kaneki's meat.

He brought the hand up to his lips and looked at Kaneki in the mirror. His expression was blank. Tsukiyama tentatively placed a kiss on the back of his hand.

"I'm simply your sword, _cher_, I would never."

Kaneki raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

He licked his lips, enjoying the faint taste of Kaneki's skin on them. The tiniest sample, it wasn't enough.

He pressed his lips to the back of Kaneki's hand once again, watching to see if Kaneki would allow him to continue. He didn't quite want his body to end up in the state the bedroom was in.

Kaneki watched him, but he didn't give off any warning signs, so…

Tsukiyama ghosted his lips over the back of his hand and placed a finger between them.

Kaneki's eyes fell shut.

Tsukiyama took the finger into his mouth and rolled his tongue over it, enjoying the taste of sweat and oils and Kaneki's old blood. There was a trace of the flavor of breakfast, but not enough to interrupt the harmony playing over his tastebuds. He let out a sigh through his nose.

It was all he could do not to bite clean through it.

The flesh on his knuckles was tender, he'd noticed that it had been scarred over- pink with new flesh, unsure if it should heal or not. His wrists had also been like that.

Tsukiyama pulled the finger from his mouth and turned Kaneki's hand over in his. He pressed his mouth against the inside of his wrist and drew his tongue across it.

Kaneki sighed.

"That feels nice, having them touched so gently after…" Kaneki trailed off. "I half expected to open my eyes and be missing a finger. To still be in that warehouse."

He didn't elaborate after that.

Tsukiyama vaguely wondered what happened, but the scent and flavor of Kaneki was overpowering the rest of his thoughts and drowned out whatever empathy he was supposed to feel.

He pressed more kisses to Kaneki's hand and licked it clean despite the sink still running. When there was nothing left on that hand he moved to taste the other hand but Kaneki snatched it back and shook his head.

"Just wash them in the sink, those noises you're making are kind of gross."

Oh, he hadn't noticed-

"O-of course, Kaneki-kun."

Kaneki set his hands in the sink and Tsukiyama washed them with soap, careful over the knuckles and other new flesh, uncertain whether it was sensitive or not. He was perplexed for a moment by Kaneki's nails, thinking they were simply filthy. After scrubbing under them with a brush and finding no change in how dark they were, he accepted that the color wasn't going to change. He contemplated the possibility that Kaneki had gotten a manicure, but that was a ridiculous thought. The Aogiri Tree wasn't going to be having spa day. Perhaps the nails had just grown in black.

He let Kaneki's hands sit under the tap as he grabbed a small towel before he turned off the faucet. He dried them off, and realized Kaneki really had gotten paler. The skin beneath the coat of filth was almost as light as his hair- and in contrast, it made the rest of him look even dirtier.

"Then, would you like any assistance with your shower, Kaneki-kun?"

Kaneki smacked him in the face with the hand towel.

"No, you'd probably do something gross, like trying to lick the rest of my body-" his face went a little red at that and he stuttered, probably not realizing the implications of what he'd said until it was already out of his mouth.

Kaneki grabbed Tsukiyama by the shoulders, spun him around, and marched him to the door before firmly shoving a foot into the small of Tsukiyama's back, literally kicking him out of the bathroom.

"I'll be taking a shower now, please bring me some clean clothes. Thank you, Tsukiyama-san."

And for the second time since Kaneki had arrived, Tsukiyama had a door slammed in his face.

The breakfast tray on Kaneki's bed completely forgotten, Tsukiyama left the room to find him something to wear. It was a chance he was jumping at and options raced through his mind; Kaneki could be so cute in the right outfit. But then he realized he had a scarce amount of time, couldn't go shopping, and the only clothes really available in the house were his own. The sight of Kaneki in his blazer was sweet, but it was much too large for him, what with Kaneki having a petite frame and standing a head shorter than Tsukiyama himself.

Tch.

The others were still eating in the kitchen- couldn't they have at least moved on to the dining room? Completely unrefined.

They were in the same clothes as well. He hoped Kaneki didn't expect him to dress the musclehead and his rag-tag trio.

Good, though, it meant they wouldn't be in the rooms they were using. He went through each room and sorted through the drawers and closets, finding nothing. It had been a while since anyone had stayed at this house. When he opened the closet in the guest room that was usually reserved for the servants of his household he let out a sigh of relief. There was a little row of suits left behind. He pulled one from the rack and judged the size of it- and it seemed as though it would be around Kaneki's size.

_Perfetto_. Kaneki would be so cute in this, looking so dapper. Just like he had at the restaurant. Garnishing his meals was always fun.

He walked back to Kaneki's room to find him already out of the shower, sitting on the bed next to the now-empty breakfast tray, towelling his hair in his boxers. ..._His_ boxers. He swallowed. That had truly been something Tsukiyama had forgotten about in retrieving the suit. At least Kaneki had remembered, but the thought of Kaneki rummaging through his underwear drawer had red flushing to his face.

Kaneki decided not to mention it.

"Oh, good, you brought them. And they're not an eyesore…"

Kaneki stood from his seat and walked over to him. Tsukiyama couldn't help raking his eyes over him- skinny, just the perfect amount of fat. He averted his gaze before Kaneki could realize he was mapping out where he'd make his cuts of meat. He could tell Kaneki _had_ gotten stronger than him, but it didn't show at all on his body.

"You didn't need to get something so extravagant, though…"

"Extravagant? It's only a suit, Kaneki-kun."

"Most people don't wear suits casually, Tsukiyama-san."

At that Kaneki cracked a small little smile. _Dolce_.

Kaneki stood in front of him for a moment before saying anything. "Are you going to give it to me, or?"

He'd forgotten about that part.

"Of course, Kaneki-kun."

Tsukiyama turned around and hung the suit onto the doorframe, taking the shirt out. He turned back to Kaneki and held it open.

"I said give it to me, not dress me…" Kaneki complained, but had turned around and was slipping his arms into the sleeves. He turned around to face Tsukiyama again and looked at him expectantly, and Tsukiyama quickly moved his hands to button the shirt for him. Kaneki let out a contented little sigh as Tsukiyama finished up the buttons, relaxing his shoulders.

He wanted to continue eating up (hopefully, soon, literally) how cute the sight of Kaneki in only a shirt was, but Kaneki would take away the chance to pepper him he was giving Tsukiyama if he were to take too long.

He reached for the slacks and knelt down to help Kaneki step into them. His eyes trailed upwards and he tried to quiet the sharp breath he took when the thought crossed his mind that Kaneki looked quite nice from that angle. Kaneki would probably step on him if he were to ever voice that thought, and Tsukiyama couldn't say that was a prospect he objected to.

He tucked in Kaneki's shirt, buttoned his pants, and moved to retrieve the little bowtie. That suited Kaneki, he thought, but a regular tie would be better on his frame, to pull away from how petite his torso was. The focus on his neck would make him seem smaller.

Kaneki lifted his chin to allow him to tie it and Tsukiyama's hands fumbled a couple of times because his expression was simply _so sweet_.

Kaneki shrugged the jacket on and allowed Tsukiyama to button it and straighten the lapels before stepping back and letting out a quiet, hoarse little laugh.

"Thank you."

It befit him. But his hair was all tousled from the towel-drying, and with how shockingly white it was if it wasn't styled properly it would make Kaneki look foolish.

"Kaneki-kun, your hair. Allow me."

He reached out and smoothed his hand through Kaneki's hair, threading his fingers through white locks to finger-comb them down. He brushed the bangs from Kaneki's eyes, it was a rare treat to see both uncovered.

"There you are."

He rubbed his nose, surreptitiously trying to smell for any pheromones from Kaneki's hair that would have rubbed off on his fingers. He'd just showered, but the tiniest bit was there-

Kaneki walked past him, out of the room and Tsukiyama trailed after him without any order. He followed him into the living room, where the other four had sat in the chairs framing the couch, leaving the main piece of furniture open.

Kaneki walked straight for it.

His presence was commanding, and even though he was the smallest, any onlooker would have been able to tell who was in charge.

Kaneki sank down in the middle of it and crossed his legs, elegant in his suit.

The room couldn't be called a courtroom, but Kaneki had taken that chair as his throne and Tsukiyama could tell everyone in the room would follow his every word.


	3. twenty-second

Kaneki leaned against the arm of his couch, lounging in his dapper little stood next to him, a knight standing guard. He really would have liked to sit down, but Kaneki had completely claimed the couch and glared at anyone who so much as stepped near it. He even had his legs taking up the other cushions. It was his commander's chair, and it wasn't to be shared.

Banjou and his followers had left earlier with a wad of cash to buy themselves new clothes since their own were ragged and quite frankly reeked. Tsukiyama couldn't have cared less about what they had to wear, but Kaneki had asked him, and he was going to do anything he could to get on this new Kaneki's good side.

Kaneki had decided it'd be suspicious if he suddenly showed up at his old apartment after being missing even if it was only quickly to retrieve clothes. He didn't even know if his belongings were still _there_, the apartment may have been cleared out already since he hadn't exactly been around to pay rent. He had almost gone with the other four to pick up things, but Tsukiyama had persuaded him not to. Tsukiyama wanted to go with him and dress him himself, the others were probably buying bargain clothes or something equally distasteful. Kaneki had decided he had things to do, anyway, so the shopping could wait.

"Things" apparently entailed lazing on the couch and mindlessly reaching over and playing with Tsukiyama's tie, muttering under what sounded like numbers. He'd been very…spacey, the past couple of days. His resting was to be expected as well, considering that the night before had been as bad as the first night after his break out.

Tsukiyama wasn't going to complain about how Kaneki played with his tie, any attention was good attention. Even when Kaneki gave it a sharp tug out of nowhere and Tsukiyama ended up gasping out of shock.

"Tsukiyama-san, show me your kagune."

…Kaneki probably wasn't aware that in a non-combat situation, that was quite a flirtatious thing to say. He couldn't expect Kaneki to be familiar with the intricacies of ghoul culture, though, and thought over explaining it to him. He could go along with it as if Kaneki was making a pass, and feign innocence later that he had thought Kaneki had known the implications. But, if he did that, Kaneki might go around hitting on everyone he met. That wouldn't be good, Tsukiyama couldn't bear the thought of anyone thinking it okay to put their hands on _his_ Kaneki. It was probably best to explain.

"Kaneki-kun, this is awkward to say, but you may not want to go around asking a thing like that. It has…many implications of courtship."

"Hm, is that so."

Kaneki's hand twisted in his tie, pulling it tighter around his throat.

"Show me your kagune."

"O-Of course, Kaneki-kun," Tsukiyama stuttered out, hands moving quickly to unbutton his blazer so it wouldn't be ripped.

"If you try anything, I'll kill you, keep that in mind."

Tsukiyama gave the best nod he could with the tie constricting his neck, and Kaneki seemed to get the hint and released it with a little hum. Tsukiyama shrugged off his blazer and set it on the nearest chair, not wanting to sully Kaneki's couch.

Kaneki was watching him intently, and while he would usually relish the attention, it felt somewhat exposing. He stepped in front of the couch to face Kaneki, cleared his throat a little, and outstretched his arm.

He allowed his kagune out, curling around his arm. He looked to Kaneki, knowing his eyes had turned, and Kaneki gave him a little smile.

Kaneki rose from his spot on his couch and stepped over to Tsukiyama. He stroked a hand down kagune, humming slightly.

Did he realize how suggestive he was being? Tsukiyama swallowed and said nothing.

"You were the first koukaku I'd met, so I thought this shape was normal," Kaneki said, tracing the spiral with his fingers. "The others I've seen don't use it like this, though."

Kaneki probably knew exactly what he was doing. Tsukiyama tensed up, remembering the threat from earlier. He didn't doubt Kaneki's words. He'd slipped up a couple of times the day before, and ended up bruised and bloodied each time. He didn't fancy experiencing that again.

"It's a special technique, Kaneki-kun. Much more effective than mindlessly flailing your kagune about," he said, trying to have his tone come out evenly and to hide his shaky breath, "That sort of thing is especially ineffective for a koukaku such as myself, due to the weight. But techniques are valuable to all types."

Kaneki nodded, still petting his kagune. He looked up at Tsukiyama, and he was met with the bright red and deep black of his single kakugan. As if he couldn't get any more suggestive.

Kaneki's other hand wrapped around Tsukiyama's tie and he tugged him down, closer to his face. His breath ghosted on Tsukiyama's mouth and he could smell it and Tsukiyama was very close to "trying something" and hoping he didn't end up with a rinkaku through his gut.

Kaneki's lips inched closer and he heard a whisper.

"You'll teach me, right?"

Tsukiyama's thoughts were racing and he was swimming in the scent of Kaneki's breath but everything stopped because the god damn door opened and that Banjoi had no sense of timing whatsoever.

Kaneki let go of his tie and took steps back to his couch to sit down again.

"And him, too. You'll help Banjou, won't you, Tsukiyama-san?"

"Ah, huh?" Banjou asked, jolted by suddenly hearing his name. He'd been averting his eyes.

Banjou and his group had…definitely noticed what was going on. Tsukiyama was just glad that he didn't think he was attacking Kaneki or something. He could handle them but he'd rather not have to fight Banjou and his little ragtag bunch. But that was good, he didn't know Banjou's intentions, and it meant he'd keep away from Kaneki. He quickly straightened his clothes, retracted his kagune, and took up his place standing next to the couch once again.

"I was asking Tsukiyama if he'd be so kind as to help teach you to fight," Kaneki explained, nonchalant. The four all entered the living room and took up their seats around the couch, setting down their shopping bags, visibly uncomfortable.

"I don't really know if I need…" Banjou trailed off, scratching at his oddly styled beard. Tsukiyama wondered if he just didn't know how to shave properly.

"You're my shield, you should know how to fight," Kaneki said, and he smiled softly, "for yourself, too, in case you get wrapped up in something like that again."

Banjou looked at the floor and nodded.

Tsukiyama cleared his throat. "Teaching you is one thing, Kaneki-kun, as I'm familiar with you, and—"

"'Familiar', Tsukiyama-san?"

"I, that is…I suppose I could see if I could be of assistance to Monsieur Banjoi."

Banjou looked up and nodded at him, smiling a little.

"What sort of kagune do you have?" Tsukiyama asked. That knowledge would be important if he was going to attempt to help the man, something he really didn't want to bother with doing. Tsukiyama wanted him off of his hands, but Kaneki seemed fond of him and he resented the man for that.

"I, uh," he scratched at that stubble again. "I can't use my kagune."

Tsukiyama let out a scoff.

"What do you mean 'you can't use your kagune'? What sort of ghoul can't do something as simple as that?"

Banjou hung his head and looked at the ground.

One of his followers, the woman, stood up for him. "Banjou was in charge of the 11th ward for a while, have some respect."

"Tch, even more reason he should know how. That's ridiculous."

"Who the hell do you think you are?" one of the other two piped up.

"Was that an honest question? I'm the Gourmet."

The four in the room seemed to tense up. His name was well-known, he knew. Seeing that in action brought a smile to creep across his face.

"Being unable to use your kagune, tch, how embarrassing. That's a disgrace to _us_ as ghouls. Kaneki-kun has been a ghoul for less than a year and even _he_ can use his."

He was cut off by Kaneki yanking on his tie hard enough to cause him to stumble to his knees the ground.

He coughed a few times, caught off-guard by the sudden outburst.

"Of course, Kaneki-kun is exquisite, and—"

"That's enough of your little tirade, Tsukiyama-san. Sit."

Kaneki grabbed the back of his shirt collar and pulled him up into a sitting position on the floor at the side of the couch.

Tsukiyama could feel a burning in his face. The indignity of how Kaneki was treating him— and in front of these weaker ghouls— he ignored the nagging feeling that he liked it.

"If Tsukiyama is this opposed to the idea of teaching you, Banjou, he'd be a bad teacher anyway." Kaneki's hand settled into Tsukiyama's hair and he absentmindedly ran his fingers through it. "You're still going to teach me, though."

Tsukiyama nodded.

"You're more skilled than me, you can fight more efficiently, I'll give you that, Tsukiyama-san. But I'm stronger than you, keep that in mind."

Tsukiyama nodded once again, a little whimper coming out of his throat. Kaneki kept petting his hair, and he wasn't sure if Kaneki was aware of it or not.

Kaneki looked to Banjou. "Would you mind heading to Anteiku and picking up some food? You four need to eat, and I don't want Tsukiyama thinking I'll let him hunt."

His fingers tightened in his hair and Tsukiyama let out a small little whimper.

"The 20th ward is kind of far, but that's okay," Banjou said. "Wish we'd known while we were out earlier…"

"Tsukiyama said this was a temporary spot, didn't you?" Kaneki asked, looking down at him. Tsukiyama nodded. "Then find somewhere more convenient for us later."

"Once the holidays are over, _mon cher_," Tsukiyama explained, "things are somewhat hectic right now—"

Kaneki laughed at him.

Tsukiyama didn't know what to make of that.

Banjou stood and the others followed suit. They excused themselves and left to get what Kaneki had asked for.

Kaneki stayed silent for a short while, simply stroking his fingers through Tsukiyama's hair.

"When they get back, I expect you to behave yourself, Tsukiyama-san."

Tsukiyama swallowed and nodded. His hand drifted to his throat and he loosened his tie a bit. It was embarrassing, how Kaneki was talking to him. Sure, he had been rude to that musclehead, but he was deserving of it.

"Hey, show me your kagune again."

Tsukiyama flashed him a smile and stood from his spot, moving in front of the couch.

Kaneki definitely knew what he was implying, after Tsukiyama had explained it there was no way he could be oblivious. Either that, or he had just completely ignored Tsukiyama earlier…

He let his kagune spiral out around his arm and Kaneki watched with vague interest, not moving from his spot on the couch.

"Do you think that would be good for a rinkaku? The spiral?"

"I've seen rinkakus use the technique," Tsukiyama replied, "So, yes, it would be."

"Hm."

Kaneki stood from his spot. He stepped in front of Tsukiyama and once again began tracing the spiral with his palm. His hand followed the curve of the kagune up to where it met Tsukiyama's shoulder blade. He traced a finger in a circle around where the kagune met skin, and Tsukiyama shuddered.

"Kakuhou taste disgusting," he mused, and stepped closer, putting himself nearly chest-to-chest with Tsukiyama. He was a tad too short for that, though, with his head only reaching just over Tsukiyama's shoulder it couldn't be really chest-to-chest.

Kaneki _had_ to know what he was doing, there was no doubt about it. Tsukiyama was okay with wherever this was going. While having Kaneki in his stomach was preferable, having him inside him anywhere else sounded pretty good, too. He wished Kaneki would pick up the pace, though.

Tsukiyama brought his free arm up and curled his fingers into Kaneki's hair. He leaned down and pressed his lips against his neck before drawing his tongue across his jugular, enjoying the strong scent there and the taste on the surface of Kaneki's skin—

Kaneki let out an incredibly loud and incredibly adorable gasp, but Tsukiyama didn't have time to enjoy that because he was knocked to the floor and had four tentacles pointing at his vitals.

"Wh-wh-wh-what the hell was that. I-I told you, if you tried to eat me, I'd—"

The red in his face and the heaviness in his breath was positively _délicieux_.

"Kaneki-kun, I'd assumed— you were coming on very strong, _douceur_."

Kaneki brought a hand up to cover his mouth and his face went redder, standing out strongly against his pale skin and white hair. Kaneki's eye had turned as a reaction, bright red now staring at him. His eyes traced over Tsukiyama's body and settled between his legs. He let out a small noise of embarrassment, muffled by his own hand. Then his eyes shifted down his own body and his expression grew in mortification and he quickly took a couple of steps away from Tsukiyama's figure on the floor.

Tsukiyama stood up and brushed himself off, straightening his clothes. Apparently Kaneki _hadn't_known what he was doing, and Tsukiyama was the one to make things awkward. Or perhaps he did, and just hadn't expected Tsukiyama to do anything about it? He cleared his throat and excused himself from the room.

The new Kaneki was certainly a delicacy.


	4. twenty-third

Tsukiyama had passed out some point, and was rudely awakened in the wee hours by Kaneki shaking him- a tad harder than necessary, really.

When Banjou had returned, he had a small girl sitting on his shoulders, much to Kaneki's surprise. She had apparently clung to Banjou and refused to let him leave Anteiku if he didn't bring her with him to see Kaneki. She even proudly proclaimed that she'd brought her toothbrush.

Kaneki had gone out to greet them, despite how long he'd locked himself in his room, and seemed absolutely delighted to see her. Tsukiyama found himself jealous that anyone could coax that sort of response from him. It was petty, he knew, being jealous of a little girl, but he couldn't help himself.

She'd brought a stack of books, and Kaneki invited her onto the couch with him- the couch, where he didn't let anyone else sit.

"Tsukiyama-san, why don't you go find something to do? We'd like to spend some time with Hinami," Kaneki had said, not making eye contact the whole time.

That was the first he'd spoken to Tsukiyama since their little "encounter" earlier that day. He was glad that Kaneki had addressed him, but it read "get out, I don't want you around her."

So Tsukiyama had gone out, not doing anything in particular. He'd returned well into the evening, and Kaneki had _still_ been reading on the couch with her. The others had presumably gone to bed to enjoy a couple of hours without listening to Kaneki's nightmares.

He skulked off to the master bedroom, the one Kaneki had been staying in. He tried to read for a little while, but he was too irritated to focus. Then, he remembered Kaneki was busy, and wouldn't be keeping an eye on the room.

Tsukiyama gathered all of Kaneki's dirty clothes, tossed them onto his bed, and rolled around in them like a pig in a mud puddle.

It was fantastic. But it was also infuriating, having the real thing within reach and having to settle for his leftover scent on fabric.

He'd have him soon enough.

But he'd fallen asleep there, and now Kaneki was staring down at him with murder in his eyes. He'd been caught. Oh, no, and he had Kaneki's boxers cradled right up against his face-

"I'll be taking my bed back now, Tsukiyama-san."

Tsukiyama swallowed and nodded, climbing off from the bed.

Kaneki let out a soft little laugh. "Sorry, Hinami and I got a little caught up in what we were reading, I didn't mean to steal your 'bed' for so long. You must have gotten tired of waiting, it's okay."

Tsukiyama nodded. "That's...precisely what happened."

He wrapped an arm around Kaneki's waist and guided him to sit on the bed, which Kaneki seemed fine with.

"_Bonne nuit_, Kaneki-kun," he whispered, and leaned down to kiss Kaneki on the ear.

His lips met with it, and Kaneki let out a sharp gasp.

And Tsukiyama didn't know what happened.

He registered the popping of knuckles.

Kaneki on top of him.

Pain.

The bitter reek of his own blood.

That strange screaming laughter that came from Kaneki's bedroom during the night. It sounded so far away, but it was on him.

His own choked sounds.

Counting.

The familiar scent of fear, but it wasn't from prey- he was exuding it, and he didn't realize he was completely terrified for his life until it registered with his nose.

Once he had a grip on that, what was happening was easier to understand. Kaneki's hand was digging into his jaw, nails breaking into his skin, slamming his face against the ground. The way Kaneki held him his shoulder was being smashed against the ground as well, the bones in it probably shattered.

His whole arm went numb, then the rest of him.

Sooner or later- certainly, later- Kaneki climbed off, and Tsukiyama let out a weak groan, spitting blood onto the floor.

"I- shit, Tsukiyama-"

Tsukiyama raised his good hand to shield his face, hiding it from Kaneki as if that would protect him. Kaneki was right, he was stronger than him. He curled his knees up into himself.

Kaneki cursed again. And then he was gone, out of the room.

Tsukiyama tried to crawl across the floor, but it hurt too much- he stayed there, whimpering.

He'd endured more before. He shouldn't have been as much of a mess as he was, he thought, but it had happened so fast and he knew if he had fought back he would have been dead. If he'd brought out his kagune it wouldn't have been so bad, but his kakuhou was probably damaged from his fractured shoulder.

But he'd never been taken down so easily before, it wounded his pride.

He heard Kaneki's footsteps enter the room and he whimpered.

"Tsukiyama, I'm so sorry, here, eat this-"

Kaneki crouched beside him and pressed some meat against Tsukiyama's lips and he chewed, ignoring the disgusting dry taste of the meat from Anteiku.

Kaneki tore another piece from the meat and cupped his cheek to feed him some more.

He kept muttering apologies, but Tsukiyama only chewed the meat he offered.

"It was in my ear, and I just…It was in my ear."

Kaneki shifted uncomfortably.

"Do you need any more, Tsukiyama-san?"

Tsukiyama shook his head and coughed a little. Even in the state he was in, Kaneki was the most important thing on his mind, though he was somewhat frightened of the boy at the moment. But this was only another of Kaneki's many flavors, Tsukiyama would have to handle himself better so as not to set Kaneki off like that again, he figured. Kaneki seemed to be feeling very guilty about the situation, perhaps he could convince him for a bite?

"_Non, non_, leave some for the others," he brought his good hand to reach up to Kaneki, stroking his arm, "Though...I could use some more."

Kaneki nodded and echoed, speaking mostly to himself. "Some more…there's some bones left from what you hunted the other day."

"I...no thank you, Kaneki-kun, I think what you gave me should be sufficient." Damn.

Kaneki swallowed. "Don't do something like that again. I'm going to move you, okay?"

"I'd rather you not," Tsukiyama said.

"I'm not going to leave you lying in your blood on the floor."

Tsukiyama wasn't exactly eager to have Kaneki handling him again so soon after his throttling.

"You broke my shoulder, _cher_." And his cheekbone, and his nose...he dreaded what he would look like in the mirror, a blood-mottled mess.

Kaneki cringed at that.

"It should be healed in the morning, but moving so far as the couch would be...quite painful, I would rather avoid it."

"As if I'd let you out there, Hinami would see," Kaneki let out a rude little laugh before catching himself. "Sorry."

"Letting me bleed out in the tub, then? Cliche, I'd expected better of you," he half-joked. Even though Kaneki was showing remorse, if he slipped up he could foresee that in his future-

"I'm moving you now." Kaneki stated, before scooping Tsukiyama up. There was that strength he'd somehow acquired.

His shoulder spiked in pain.

"_Tres romantique_, Kaneki-kun," Tsukiyama squeaked out.

Kaneki probably would have rolled his eyes, but guilt was painted all over his face. He set Tsukiyama down on his bed. "Sorry, I kind of just...lost control." He walked over to the bathroom and grabbed a towel, which he tossed to Tsukiyama. "Take off that shirt and clean yourself off," he half-ordered, walking back over to the bed.

Tsukiyama obeyed, and thought he caught Kaneki raking his eyes over him.

"I'm going to sleep now," Kaneki explained, climbing over him to the other side of the bed.

That was…a surprise. He wouldn't have viewed that as unwelcome, but with the state of the room- kagune scratches on the walls, furniture flipped- and the present state of himself, he wasn't exactly sure if he wanted to be so much as in the same room as Kaneki while he was sleeping.

Kaneki didn't give him much of an option, though. He pulled off the suit he had worn that day, threw it on the floor, then wrapped his arms around Tsukiyama, pressing his bare chest against his back.

It went against Tsukiyama's sense of self-preservation, but…

_Savoureux_.

Kaneki moved and let out a little noise of disgust. "Gross, you were sleeping with this right next to your face- oh, gross, you were probably- oh my god."

Kaneki's hand left his waist and then shoved something under Tsukiyama's bloody nose.

Oh, that was- the boxers.

Tsukiyama couldn't help but sniff it through the crusted blood around his nose.

Kaneki laughed. "That's so gross, I can't believe you're actually doing that."

He shifted and muttered, close to Tsukiyama's ear. "I'm sorry about all of this, but now you know what will happen if you try anything."

Tsukiyama swallowed and nodded.

Tsukiyama was more than a little flustered from that, despite the pain in his face and shoulder. After what they had done the day before...

Kaneki tossed the shorts across the and wrapped the arm back around his waist, running his hand down Tsukiyama without any trace of subtlety.

"I'm going to sleep now."

And he was going to leave him like that. How frustrating.  
>"<em>Bonne nuit<em>," he replied, curt and irritated.

Tsukiyama let out a sigh. He just hoped he wouldn't end up like the rest of the room.

…

Tsukiyama woke up in the afternoon, alone, healed for the most part. His shoulder was sore and his face still bruised, but those would heal after he ate breakfast.

Kaneki, surprisingly, hadn't kept him up with those nightmares of his. He'd actually gone out like a light.

Tsukiyama walked out and into the living room, where Kaneki was reading with that little Hinami girl. Kaneki shot him a glance.

"Oh, Tsukiyama, didn't you say you had some things you could get done today for our 'plans'...?"

Ah, edging around the topic of their for the sake of the little lady. He did have some preparations he could make, people to meet... but he had really been planning on putting them off for later. After their "encounter" with their kagunes the day before, Tsukiyama was hoping to spend the day with Kaneki, hoping for a chance that perhaps another encounter of similar flavor would occur. But Kaneki seemed to be set on spending the day with the girl again, so that plan was out the window.

"Of course, Kaneki-kun, I'll have that tended to." He flashed a smile Kaneki's way.

Kaneki simply nodded and went back to their book.

So that's how it was going to be.

He did nothing but go about business day, and what had happened in the early hours of that morning went unmentioned.


	5. twenty-fourth

Tsukiyama had practically gotten used to the sounds of Kaneki's nightmares; somehow he'd managed to sleep through them. When he woke up he felt well-rested for the first time since they had gotten Kaneki back from the Aogiri Tree.

He stretched as he stood, noting that he'd woken up before the others. That was fine; he figured he'd use the spare time to make breakfast for all of them, since the calendar read that it was the 24th. He could be nice to Banjoi's group for a couple of days, he supposed. A Christmas charity. He walked to the kitchen, musing over whatever he could make. Kaneki would be mad at him if he went hunting, so he'd have to make due with the meat from Anteiku.

Adjacent to the kitchen was the dining room, and out of the corner of his eye he caught that little girl who was visiting sitting in there. So he hadn't been the first awake. Ever the gentleman, he went to greet her.

"_Bonjour_, little lady."

She looked up at him, and he saw the worried expression her face was knitted into. She looked absolutely exhausted.

"Huh? Oh, good morning, mister... "

"Did you sleep well?"

She nodded slightly. "Hey, is onii-chan...is Kaneki onii-chan alright?"

He'd gotten used to the sounds over the past few days. Kaneki's night terrors were loud and jarring, starting and stopping at random points throughout the night. The girl was small enough to be frightened over petty things like doves under the bed- but the way Kaneki acted was no petty thing. It made sense that she would be so worried.

"_Oui_, Kaneki-san simply has some trouble sleeping. Disturbed sleep, nightmares if you will. My pardons for it keeping you awake."

The girl nodded and let out a large yawn. She tried to cover it up with her tiny hand to no avail.

"I'm making breakfast, so if you'd like to try to take a nap before the others are all up, it'll be done when you wake."

"Thank you for the food…" she trailed off, and then stood. She was falling asleep where she stood, it'd be good for her to go get some rest. She trudged off, groggy.

Tsukiyama realized he still hadn't caught her name. Oh well.

He decided he would just fry some of the meat from Anteiku in a pan; there wasn't much that could be done to improve it.

The others all woke up, following their noses to the food in the kitchen. Tsukiyama simply left plates and coffee for Banjou and his followers. When Kaneki walked into the room, however, he greeted him as cheerily as he could ever muster.

"_Joyeux Noël_, Kaneki-kun! I've made breakfast for us all. Of course, the flavor isn't anything compared to if we were to hunt, but-"

Kaneki snatched the plate from him and glared at him. He'd always taken Kaneki for a morning person, but evidently he was not.

Tsukiyama watched as he took a bite of the pseudo-bacon. Then, he decided was a good time to continue speaking. He draped an arm around Kaneki's shoulder.

He heard a pop of Kaneki's knuckle and flinched. In the past few days he'd developed a bit of a Pavlovian reaction to the sound, to expect some bodily pain.

"I propose we go out shopping today, Kaneki-kun, to enjoy what we can of this holiday-"

"Christmas is a couple's holiday, Tsukiyama, and you must have some very high hopes if you so much as thought I would agree to that."

One of the four at the table let out a choked laugh around their food.

"It isn't exclusively a holiday for couples, _minou_," he stressed, dropping the pet name as a subtle jibe, "In Europe it is a holiday for families."

"It'd be a dark day when I consider _you_ my family, Tsukiyama."

"...and friends."

"That either."

Oh, what a sting.

"We _do_ need to buy you some things, though, Kaneki-kun, and now is as good a time as ever. You can't run around in the same old suits forever," Tsukiyama tried to reason. He needed a better excuse, though, something…"And family, Kaneki-kun, don't you think the little lady would enjoy the excursion? Some Christmas gifts? You should have seen how distraught she was this morning, so worried about you."

Kaneki let out a deep sigh and a look of guilt plastered onto his face. "I...yeah, okay. Let's go. For Hinami."

Ah, Hinami, that was her name.

Kaneki ate the rest of his food before he continued, leaving them in a silence. "We have to be careful, though. The CCG knows Hinami's face."

"Oh, is this _dolce_ young lady that 'daughter ghoul' that caused such a stir?" he tutted, "what a tragedy, even more the reason to give her a nice holiday."

Kaneki probably deserved a nice day, too, after whatever he had been through at that Aogiri warehouse. He hadn't told Tsukiyama anything about it, only occasionally alluding to what had happened, but Tsukiyama was able to gather that it hadn't been a pleasant experience to say the least.

"It won't be a problem, we can dress her up a little and no one will recognize her. The CCG is frightfully dumb," Tsukiyama explained.

Kaneki nodded. "I'll go wake her up and tell her to get ready, then."

"We should wait until she wakes up on her own, I think," Tsukiyama butted in, eager to stop him because he'd rather have some time with Kaneki before the girl was his focus, "she wasn't able to sleep so well, on account of your…" He gave a sort of roundabout hand gesture.

That guilt made its way back onto Kaneki's face. "I...I don't want her worrying about me." He sighed. "Yeah, we'll wait."

Tsukiyama was glad he'd convinced him. Kaneki seemed to be relaxing a little. While they waited they talked about books, which was nice, since Kaneki seemed to be opposed to casual conversation with Tsukiyama. Many of their interactions, especially since Hinami had arrived (but never with her in the room), were strictly to do with planning for Kaneki's greater mission.

Hinami didn't wake up until the late afternoon, edging into evening. When she heard the news that they were going out, she asked why they didn't wake her up, then scrambled to get ready. Tsukiyama grabbed some things she needed to disguise herself.

Kaneki was smiling, something of an unfamiliar sight to Tsukiyama.

"Little lady, I heard we must dress you up a little for you to go out," Tsukiyama said to her.

Hinami nodded.

"Allow me."

Tsukiyama pulled her hair to the side and did it into a loose braid. He put some fashion glasses (that he owned "just because") onto her nose and gave her a medical mask to put on. Lastly, he gave her a Santa hat to pull on. Festive, cute.

"_D'accord!_" Tsukiyama exclaimed, "we are ready to leave."

The sun was setting by the time they were leaving. The major shopping districts were in wards that were typically dangerous for ghouls during the night, but no one would dare be up to anything with how many people were out. They would be fine.

Tsukiyama was glad that they had waited until dark, really. When they stepped off the train there were Christmas lights everywhere and the atmosphere was _tres romantique_. If only they had left the little girl at home, and then it could have been a proper date.

She wasn't completely unwelcome, though. She took Kaneki's hand and kept pointing out all of the window displays, a little ball of cheer. Kaneki didn't stop smiling once while she was there, and Tsukiyama supposed he could like the girl if Kaneki did so much. She was sweet.

Hinami pointed out a store that she wanted to go into, a clothing store. Kaneki pointed out that clothes were the main purpose of the trip (while tugging uncomfortably at his bowtie), and agreed that they should go in. Tsukiyama didn't mind if they were to go to every store on the block, really, not if it meant getting on Kaneki's good side.

Tsukiyama held open the door for Kaneki and Hinami, but spared a glance up, and-

"Kaneki-kun, mistletoe. I presume you know the tradition?"

"Ah, yeah."

Tsukiyama leaned in for a kiss, expectant.

Kaneki crouched down and pressed a kiss to Hinami's cheek.

Oh. Well then.

They went into the store, and luckily there was a sizeable men's section as well.

Hinami decided to break off from them and leave them to the men's clothes. Kaneki rationed that she'd be fine in such a crowded place, and they wandered to find clothes for Kaneki.

Tsukiyama sorted through the racks with a keen eye, looking for what would look best on Kaneki. Most of what he held up got a stern "no", but after so many explanations as to why everything would look good on him Kaneki gave up and just said "sure, whatever". Kaneki just tossed whatever casual clothes he didn't hate into the basket. Tsukiyama put the ones he didn't approve of back onto the rack when Kaneki wasn't looking.

Hinami started out with great modesty, bringing everything she liked up to Tsukiyama and asking if it was okay to buy. After the third dress or so, Tsukiyama patted her on the shoulder and told her to get anything she wanted. The little basket slung on her arm piled very high, very fast after that.

Once they finished their excursion at the clothes store they stopped by a used bookstore. Their timing was off and it was about to close, so Kaneki and Hinami took a couple of things that they didn't recognize from the "recommended" shelf by the register. Hinami went on eagerly about how excited she was to read them.

They ended the evening with coffee, and by then most things were beginning to close. The excitement had taken its toll on Hinami, and she was yawning despite how late she had woken up. Kaneki proposed that they go back, and they did.

The others were asleep when they arrived, and Hinami, happy as ever, was reluctant to follow suit. She tried to join them for coffee, tried to start on one of the new books...but the allure of sleep was too much for her and she stumbled off the the room she was sharing with Jiro.

Kaneki apparently wasn't tired yet. He went into the kitchen and prepared some coffee, offering some to the Tsukiyama who had blindly followed him.

"Thank you for taking us out, Tsukiyama-san," Kaneki said, handing him the mug, "Hinami seemed really happy about it."

"You did as well, _mon cher_," Tsukiyama added before taking a sip of his coffee.

Kaneki leaned against the counter and sipped at his.

"What would you like me to prepare for Christmas dinner tomorrow?" Tsukiyama offered.

"You say that like there's an option. But I'm not going to let you go out and kill someone so we can try to imitate a holiday...it's Christmas."

"Precisely; it's Christmas, I should be able to simply _find_ something to eat-"

"That's so depressing," Kaneki shot him a glare, "Stop."

"Only true," he muttered, breaking up the awkward silence that settled with a loud sip of his coffee. "I'm cooking something for dinner, Kaneki-kun."

Kaneki let out a loud sigh.

The silence returned.

Kaneki moved to pour himself another coffee, having drained his. He sipped at it for a little while.

"...Hey."

Tsukiyama looked to him. "Yes?"

"You said once that eating often...made you stronger…"

Tsukiyama nodded. "You _could_ live off of one meal a month, but is that truly living, Kaneki-kun? _Non_, three meals a day keeps your body in pristine shape. If you'd allow me to feed you-"

"And eating ghouls makes you stronger."

Tsukiyama shifted uncomfortably. He didn't like the train of thought Kaneki was starting on.

"...Yes. But in my experience, the taste is very rarely worth it. And it takes very, very many ghouls for there to be a difference in your strength."

"So you've…" Kaneki raised his brows in interest.

"...Yes, I've done my fair share," he said. He decided it would be best not to mention his hunt for rabbit stew. Kaneki might not be so happy about how he had tried to cannibalize the Kirishimas, even though he himself thought it was quite funny. But Kaneki wouldn't, not when the Touka girl was his little playmate. "I mean, while a human...all of the parts are relatively tasty, but some just have a finer flavor...with ghouls, there's only some parts that are even worth so much as a taste."

"Like what?" Kaneki asked. Tsukiyama hoped he was actually taking an interest in food.

"Hm, well, it's not like there's any 'one' part that will be good. It varies from ghoul to ghoul. For example, that Banjoi, the best part of him would be his neck and upper back-"

"Wait, you want to eat Banjou?" Kaneki stared at him in disbelief, half a glare. "If you-"

Tsukiyama scoffed to cut him off. "Heavens no. I'd sooner eat my own arm again. I at least have some flavor."

"Oh." Kaneki's expression was still one of disgust. "Then why would you…" He made some sort of hand gesture, but Tsukiyama understood.

"It's best to keep your eyes open for these sort of things, Kaneki-kun, or else you won't ever be able to experience the intricacies of flavor. I'm experienced, so I know what the best parts would be, allow me to teach you. For example, those three with Banjou, the pieces that would taste the best would be-"

"Stop. I don't want to hear about how you equate everyone to food."

Tsukiyama smiled. "It _is_ all we are, Kaneki-kun."

Kaneki shifted uncomfortably. There was a short silence. "What about me?"

"Hm?"

"What…parts- so I know what to defend if I meet another 'enthusiast' like you. Not that I would, considering you're so…"

Tsukiyama's breath hitched. How would he explain such a thing? He half-expected it was a trap, that Kaneki would get mad at whatever he had to say. But Kaneki, Kaneki was an absolute delicacy, his scent alone unparalleled-

He moved to put his hands on Kaneki's hips, to which Kaneki tensed up at. A warning pop of Kaneki's knuckle made its way to his ears.

"I wouldn't let a part of you go to waste, Kaneki-kun. I'd mourn a single drop of your blood that escaped my lips."

Kaneki had his brows furrowed, but the expression on his face seemed somewhat conflicted. Tsukiyama wouldn't be so hopeful as to think that meant Kaneki would allow him a bite, but the flushed cheeks seemed to say he enjoyed the attention.

He brought a hand up and stroked it down Kaneki's stomach with splayed fingers.

"Do you know how long your intestines are? I'd plant a kiss to every fraction of an inch before I savored them," he leaned in and pressed his lips to the side of Kaneki's neck, where his scent was just so strong, and Kaneki squirmed just a little. "A flavor such as yours is simply _divin_, should be worshipped…"

Kaneki wrapped an arm around Tsukiyama's back, and Tsukiyama kissed at his neck more eagerly. Kaneki's other hand snaked up and curled fingers into purple hair- and yanked Tsukiyama from his neck. Tsukiyama let out a pathetic whelp.

"Pray all you want. It's never going to happen, Tsukiyama-san."

Tsukiyama let out a short little laugh, and Kaneki pulled on his hair again. He'd make Kaneki come around at some point, he was sure of it.

"I need to be as strong as I can, though," Kaneki stated, returning to his earlier point.

"Are you implying you want to eat other ghouls?"

"If it helps me."

"I don't quite approve, I think you should only indulge yourself in the most exquisite of flavors- but should you want to, I'll ensure you'll only eat the most _exceptionnel_ of meats, prepared in the finest of ways."

Kaneki let out a short laugh. "You don't need to be so extravagant."

Oh, but he did. In order to bring out full the potential of Kaneki's flavor, he'd have to ensure that Kaneki only ate the best foods.

Tsukiyama smiled, wide. Kaneki became more enticing every time he opened his mouth.

"If you don't want your every meal to taste rotten, you'll probably want your meat prepared, _mon chou_," Tsukiyama explained, "In all honesty, I'm the best-tasting ghoul I've ever sampled."

Kaneki smiled a little and tightened the grip he had in Tsukiyama's hair. "Is that so…"

He tugged him forward abruptly.

"Are you implying I should eat _you_, Tsukiyama-san?"

The grin on his face only hadn't been trying to imply anything, only trying to convince Kaneki that he needed him, but he was _very_ okay with that.

"'Three meals a day', Kaneki-kun."

"...Come on, then." Kaneki grabbed his wrist and tugged it roughly, urging him to follow.

"Hm, where are we going?"

Kaneki laughed. "You're so loud just _talking_, you'll wake up everyone if I take a bite out of you in here. I don't want Hinami to see that."

Oh, he was serious.

Tsukiyama couldn't help the rapturous exclaim that escaped his lips, and Kaneki slapped a hand over his mouth.  
>"See, like that. Come on."<p>

He followed Kaneki to the master bedroom. Kaneki closed the door behind them.

"I'm not going to kill you or anything," Kaneki explained. Tsukiyama hadn't thought that, but the clarification was welcome. "Just…a couple bites, if you taste as good as you say."

"Of course, Kaneki-kun," Tsukiyama smiled, "As much as you wish."

Kaneki hummed and then moved his hands to loosen Tsukiyama's tie and unbutton his shirt. His eyes were very obviously fixed on the skin beneath. Tsukiyama smirked at that. Kaneki wasn't very good at being subtle.

"Hm, do I need my shirt off for you to chew on me, or did you simply want a peek?"

Kaneki gave him a little shove and ripped the rest of the shirt open, popping off all of the buttons. Tsukiyama frowned a little at that; the shirt was designer.

"Don't make this weird, Tsukiyama, I just…wanted a snack..."

Tsukiyama hummed.

"So, I guess, here's good…"

Kaneki gripped his arms, leaned his head in, and mouthed against his shoulder.

Tsukiyama wrapped an arm around Kaneki's waist and brought the other to cradle the back of his head.

"Did you stop to think about how intimate this is, Kaneki-kun?"

And then Kaneki bit down. Tsukiyama let out a sharp groan.

Kaneki pulled away, mouth covered in his blood and looking absolutely stunning.

"I-If you're going to say things like that, I'd rather just stop," he stuttered out, and Tsukiyama thought he saw a trace of pink under the blood coating his face.

Tsukiyama nodded, and Kaneki brought his mouth to lap at the blood from the bite. He moved his head to the other shoulder, lapping at the skin of his collarbones as he went. The gourmet sighed in encouragement.

"I'm going to take an actual bite now," the half-ghoul muttered against his skin, opening his jaws wide against the flesh of his trapezius.

The gourmet tried to relax, to ensure he wouldn't be so tense Kaneki couldn't pull away the muscle.

Kaneki let out a little hum against his shoulder before sinking his teeth into the skin.

Tsukiyama sighed and used his hand to press Kaneki's head closer against his shoulder, moaning as the teeth sank in deeper. He let out a gasp as Kaneki closed his jaws and tore away the flesh there completely, a sizeable piece. He panted, and the half-ghoul watched him with his eye turned as he chewed the piece of him.

"How is it, Kaneki-kun?" Tsukiyama asked, bringing his hand to cup Kaneki's cheek. He watched Kaneki's throat bob as he swallowed, admiring how it was a piece of _him_ he had just eaten.

Kaneki moved back to lick at the blood from the wound. "Better than the meat from Anteiku," he said, passive.

"What a let down," Tsukiyama said between heavy breaths, "I thought you'd have more interesting input than that."

"I'm not some sort of flavor freak like you," he replied, wiping his mouth.

"You wound me. Does that mean you're done?"

"No, I want another bite. It made me hungry."

The gourmet's smile returned. "Of course."

"I don't want to mess up your arms anymore; they won't heal as fast. Go lie down."

Tsukiyama nodded and made his way over to the bed, getting on it carefully so as not to smear blood everywhere.

The half-ghoul climbed on top of him and stared down at his body.

"My, what a precarious position, Kane-"

Kaneki slapped a hand over his mouth.

"I told you I'd stop if you said things like that, but now I'm hungry. So just shut up."

He looked Tsukiyama over, removed the hand from his mouth, and placed it on his hipbone. "I'm biting here next."

He moved down Tsukiyama's body and nipped at the spot before he sank his teeth in.

Tsukiyama let out another sharp gasp as he tore away the flesh, and Kaneki rested his cheek against the bare skin of Tsukiyama's stomach as he chewed. They both breathed heavily, their deep breaths the only thing breaking the silence.

Kaneki turned his head back and used his tongue to clean the blood off of the already-healing wound. He rolled off onto the bed next to the gourmet.

He let out a soft laugh, "When I first saw you, I thought you were a beautiful person."

Tsukiyama hummed against Kaneki's skin.

"...It didn't take long for me to see that's not true."

Kaneki brought his arms to wrap around Tsukiyama.

"...Yet here I am."

Tsukiyama closed his eyes and simply enjoyed how Kaneki's fragrance joined him to sleep.


	6. twenty-fifth

The smell wafting from the oven was simply heavenly, Tsukiyama thought. Then he thought again, and rationed that Kaneki's scent was mixing with it in the air, only reminding him how much he wanted a taste.

Despite Kaneki's original wishes, he was preparing Christmas dinner with the little lady. The main course was already in the oven, and Hinami was simply helping prepare side dishes. The little lady was simply delighted to participate in the holiday, already wearing some of the new clothes Tsukiyama had bought her the other day.

Kaneki was mad at Tsukiyama about it until he explained that he had purchased the meat. After that, Kaneki just accepted it as it was and seemed to be enjoying himself. He seemed happier than he had been the rest of the week, and well-rested as well. Aside from kicking Tsukiyama off of the bed (and across the room) a few times he had slept soundly.

He sat with Banjou and his group at the table, chatting pleasantly. Tsukiyama occasionally dropped his two cents into the conversation, and to his delight wasn't butted out. Hinami seemed most focused on the task at hand, wrapping the small sausages and following Tsukiyama's instructions. She was excited to be learning how to cook.

Once the sides were ready to cook, he and Hinami left the kitchen to join the others at the table. The conversations were mostly small talk, but carried on for a good while. Tsukiyama stood and went to check the food. Upon his return and announcing that the food still had a good while to go Hinami proposed that they play a game.

Everyone agreed, and Tsukiyama clapped his hands and proclaimed that the idea was a fantastic one. He left the room and returned with a deck of cards.

"Then, what shall we play?" he said as he sat down, idly shuffling the cards.

"Poker?" Banjou offered, "Oh, but we should play something everyone knows."

Kaneki smiled. "Hinami, what would you like to play?"

Hinami hummed a little. "I only know 'Go Fish' and 'Old Maid', those aren't that fun…"

"Hm, something easy to pick up quickly, then?" Tsukiyama mused. "Unrefined as it is, how about bull-" he glanced sideways at Hinami, "That is, B.S."

Banjou let out a loud, bellowing laugh. "I never thought I'd hear that come out that uppity mouth of yours, Tsukiyama."

Kaneki smirked and the three in Banjou's group all chuckled.

Tsukiyama put on his charming smile. "Well, that is...let's play the game, shall we?" He began dealing out the cards before anyone could object. "It's very easy to pick up, little lady, you'll be with the best of us in no time."

The first couple of rounds went quickly, with Tsukiyama dominating the game. Kaneki quipped that it was because he was such a good liar, but Tsukiyama simply laughed it off. When he was nearing his third victory, though, everyone at the table decided to team up on him and call bullshit on his every move, rotating through who called it.

"This is completely unfair," Tsukiyama whined.

Kaneki laughed and set down his hand. "Two fives. You can deal with it, Tsukiyama. I win this round."

Banjou's follower Sante won the next hand.

Hinami wasn't faring so well. She was enjoying herself very much, but the quiver in her voice gave her away. Her gentle disposition just wasn't made for lying. Most of the time everyone let her false hands slide, but it wasn't enough for her to edge ahead.

In the next round Tsukiyama was blessed with sheer luck, and every time someone called him out his cards were precisely what he had said. Hinami was about to play, but he was after her in the circle and all eyes were on him. Everyone glared, no one paying attention to Hinami's move."

"Uhm, one seven…"

Tsukiyama smacked his card onto the table as soon as the words had left her mouth. "One eight. I win, feel free to check the card-"

Hinami laughed. "Actually, mister, I think _I_ win!" She held up her hands and wiggled her fingers as if to say "look, no cards!"

Tsukiyama furrowed his brows and looked at her in confusion.

"Everyone was watching you, so I just put down my whole hand."

She'd had half the deck. No one had noticed.

A silence settled onto the room and was broken by Kaneki's laugh.

Everyone else joined in on the laughter, Hinami included.

Tsukiyama stood from the table, smiling, and patted her on the shoulder. "What a conniving little trick; I'm proud of you."

Kaneki nodded, "That was a good one, Hinami."

Hinami practically beamed.

Tsukiyama went to check on the food, finding that it was almost done. He called Hinami in and they finished preparations, setting the table and putting out the food.

He stood at the table and rose his cup of coffee in a toast.

"_Bon appétit, Joyeux Noël_."

They ate, and everyone enjoyed the food. Banjou and his group had apparently never well-prepared meat before, and marvelled at every dish. That swelled Tsukiyama's pride, but he patted Hinami on the shoulder and said it was thanks to her close eye. Hinami smiled in between bites. Kaneki seemed to smile a little at that, too.

Kaneki seemed uncomfortable eating it, fumbling with his knife and fork at first. After everyone else began eating, though, he seemed to relax and was able to eat at a normal pace. He seemed to enjoy the food, really. Tsukiyama was pleased at that.

After cleaning up from dinner they retreated to the living room, and Tsukiyama put a Christmas movie on the television. Hinami laid down on the floor, curled up in a blanket, watching it. Tsukiyama was finding a soft spot in himself for the girl, he reckoned that if he had known he was going to have a child over for Christmas he would have done more decorating, more preparations. But none of what had happened had been planned, unless if by some cruel joke of fate.

Since Hinami wasn't sharing the couch with him, Kaneki patted the cushion beside him to invite Tsukiyama to sit down. Tsukiyama obliged eagerly, and Kaneki leaned up against him, resting his head against his shoulder. One of Banjou's followers gave them a glance, but no one had the gall to say anything.

Hinami nodded off at some point, snoring softly on the floor.

Tsukiyama would have turned the movie off at that point, but Banjou seemed to be entranced in it- were those tears he saw in the corners of his eyes? Tsukiyama shook his head and glanced behind him, out the window.

"Kaneki-kun," he whispered, "It's snowing."

Kaneki turned and looked as well. "Hm, so it is…"

"Would you like to go for a walk?"

Kaneki smiled softly. "That would be nice."

He stood from the sofa and walked to the master bedroom, careful not to get in Banjou's line of sight to the television. He returned, pulling on one of the coats Tsukiyama had bought him and slinging a scarf over his shoulders. He had another coat and scarf in hand- Tsukiyama's. He handed them over. "I just grabbed some of yours, sorry if they don't match. Let's go."

Tsukiyama pulled on the coat and tied his scarf, before reaching out to button down Kaneki's and to tie his scarf. Kaneki lifted his chin to allow it and the gourmet smiled.

They walked out of the door and onto the street. The air was cold and full of snowflakes lit up by the streetlights.

Kaneki nudged himself into Tsukiyama's side, and Tsukiyama wrapped an arm around him. They walked for a while, quiet.

Tsukiyama stopped as they walked past an iron fence and hummed.

Kaneki quirked a brow at him.

Tsukiyama crouched down and picked something out of the light layer of snow. "The poor flowers weren't expecting this weather."

He stood up and placed the item into Kaneki's hand gently.

"What a beautiful rose, a marvel it's alive this time of year. And what a lovely bloom…"

Kaneki looked down at it and Tsukiyama watched the flush on his face grow a tad redder. He judged it wasn't from the cold. The bush behind the fence was blooming, but it wouldn't last in the cold air. What a shame, he thought.

"_Tres romantique_, hm, Kaneki-kun?"

Kaneki smiled a little.

Tsukiyama cupped Kaneki's cheek and lifted his chin, leaning in slightly.

The half-ghoul set his jaw and looked away, sighing through his nose.

He took that as a sign to pull away. He'd rather not spoil such a nice evening by having a rinkaku through his stomach.

Kaneki looked back at him, furrowing his brows. "What are you doing? Just do it…"

"Apologies, _minou_, I'd assumed you didn't want-"

"No, I," he took a deep breath, "Hide's the only person I've kissed, and that was a joke, so…"

"_Dolce_," Tsukiyama whispered.

"Don't make a big deal out of it, oh my god," Kaneki reached up and grabbed the collar of his coat-

He pulled Tsukiyama down and kissed him for the briefest moment, a peck.

"There," Kaneki muttered, looking away.

Tsukiyama smiled, his arms wrapping around Kaneki and Kaneki leaning into him.

The half-ghoul looked back up at Tsukiyama and they pressed their lips together once again, standing in the streetlight with snow dancing around them.

What a lovely winter.


End file.
